"And you..."
The masked figure adjusted his broom, turning to face Regulus directly.
He was waiting for an introduction.
Regulus looked back at him and said nothing.
The masked figure waited, and when no introduction came, showed no irritation. He simply continued on his own. "...handsome sir."
Regulus heard the address without a flicker of reaction. Of course he was handsome.
Freya glanced at him.
Quick. Her face showed nothing, her eyes revealed less. A single glance, withdrawn, attention returned to the figures across the gap.
But Regulus had the distinct feeling she was laughing at him somewhere behind that mask of composure.
He dismissed the thought.
"You're not Eisenhardt," the masked figure went on, his tone almost earnest. "There's no reason to risk yourself over something that doesn't belong to you. Leave now, and we won't stop you."
Regulus didn't move.
The masked figure regarded the pair of them. Two of a kind. Each more stubborn than the last.
He shook his head, eased his broom backward, eyes never leaving Regulus and Freya.
"Mr. Mask."
The retreat stopped. The figure looked at him.
"What are you searching for?" Regulus asked.
The question seemed to catch him off guard. A pause, then a careful answer.
"Truth. Truth buried beneath the sea. Civilizations swallowed by time. Knowledge drowned by the ocean. Things that existed before humanity..."
He trailed off, searching for the right word, and when it didn't come, settled for something vague. "...things."
Regulus nodded. The man seemed willing to talk, so he pressed further. "Why search for it?"
This time the silence stretched longer. Ten seconds, maybe more.
"Perhaps because," the masked figure said slowly, "it truly exists."
An answer that sounded like an answer and sounded like nothing at all.
I search for it only because it exists.
Regulus understood.
It wasn't profound. But he recognized the impulse.
Pursuit and exploration. Not for some grand cause, but because the thing was there. It existed, so it was worth seeing. It held secrets, so they were worth uncovering. What came after the uncovering was a question for later.
Not so different from his own approach to magical research.
He inclined his head, a quiet acknowledgment.
"Miss Eisenhardt. Handsome sir."
That strange voice, layered and resonant.
"I'll be waiting for you on the island."
All seven turned their brooms in unison and flew toward the dark shore.
After they left, neither Freya nor Regulus spoke.
The hull rocked gently with the swells.
Regulus turned the conversation over in his mind.
He knew now what the masked figure wanted the maritime document for. It pointed to a lost ruin deep in the North Sea, hiding something powerful enough to change the shape of things.
Freya had never told him any of this.
Then again, he'd never asked.
A hidden ruin tucked away in some forgotten corner of the world? His interest was more than casual. It ran deep.
Especially that last thing the masked figure had mentioned. Things that existed before humanity.
He'd never considered the question before.
Wizarding history typically began with some historical figures and worked backward from there, tracing lines to ancient civilizations, to lost magical systems.
But further back than that?
Before humans existed at all, what had this world looked like?
Had there been magic?
If so, what kind?
He didn't know.
He felt Freya start to speak, then stop. Her lips parted, closed again. Words forming and retreating.
He remembered the question she'd asked him days ago, and connected it to what the masked figure had just said. Coordinates. A ruin at sea. A document recording the location.
The shape of it clicked into place. This was probably the endgame. The final objective.
The answer to her question might be waiting inside that ruin.
He turned to face her.
She stood the same way she always did.
Regulus didn't make it harder.
He didn't ask about the document. Didn't ask about the ruin. Didn't press her on what she'd been hiding.
He just looked at her, expression easy, and asked, "So how are we doing this?"
Freya blinked.
She stared at him, visibly caught off guard. After that long silence, she'd been bracing for questions. Anyone would be curious by now. Things had progressed far enough that wanting to know more was only natural.
But he hadn't asked.
Her expression shifted, settled, and landed on something close to a glare.
"Payback," she said, keeping her voice level. "Full force."
Regulus nodded. "Good."
She watched him for another moment, then her voice came softer, tinged with hesitation. "Regulus, you really don't want to ask me anything?"
He just smiled at her and said nothing.
Freya held his gaze.
Under normal circumstances, eye contact with Regulus cost her nothing. She looked when she wanted, looked away when she wanted. Straightforward, uncomplicated.
Not now. Now she was losing the standoff.
He just stood there smiling, saying nothing, eyes holding something vast or perhaps nothing at all. She couldn't read what he was thinking, couldn't tell what he'd figured out, couldn't predict what would come next.
She broke first, turning her head away.
As she turned, she rolled her eyes.
Regulus caught it. His smile widened.
Freya pretended not to notice. She raised her wand and flicked it toward the cabin.
The door swung open. Two broomsticks flew out and hovered before them.
Old models.
She took one and held it out to him.
He took it.
"Let's go." Her voice had settled back to normal.
She mounted the broom, squeezed her knees, and rose into the air, angling toward the black island.
Regulus watched her go, then swung a leg over his own broom.
The island grew closer.
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